In
order for children to become expert readers, they have to
develop fluency in their reading. Fluency
involves reading faster, smoother, and with more
expression. One
of the first steps in developing fluency is learning to recognize words
effortlessly and automatically. This lesson will help students to
begin
to read faster through repeated readings and one-minute reads.

Materials:

Copy of James and the Good
Day for each student

White board

Dry erase markers

Fluency checklist for each
student ( a list where they can record whether they remembered more
words, read faster, read smoother, and read with more expression)

1 minute reads recording
sheet ( a card where the students can record how many words they read
in one minute)

Stopwatches for every two
students

Speed
Record Sheet

Name:________________
Date:__________

1st
time:______

2nd
time:______

3rd
time:______

Fluency
Literacy Rubric

Name:____________
Evaluator:____________
Date:___________

I
noticed that my partner… (color in the circle)

After
2nd
After 3rd

O
O
Remembered more words

O
O
Read faster

O
O
Read smoother

O
O
Read with expression

Procedures:

1.
Begin by saying, “We have been working on skills that help us to become
better
readers. Today, we are going to talk about something called
fluency.
Fluency is when we are able to read words faster and smoother, so that
we can
understand the stories we read better and makes the stories more
interesting.” Were
going to practice reading faster and smoother. Explain to students that
when
they read with expression, quickly and smoothly that they are reading
fluently.
Tell them that they are going to read a text three times to become
fluent
readers too.

2.
Review with the students the different methods of figuring out a word
if you
get stuck. “Boys and girls, let’s talk about some of the ways we can
figure out
a word if we get stuck.” Can anyone tell me the first thing we should
do if we
get stuck on a word? Yes, that is correct! We use the cover-up
strategy. If I
have the word pot in my text and I get stuck what do you think is the
first
thing I should do? That’s right! I would first cover up everything but
the
vowel /o/. Next, I would uncover the sound right in front of the /o/
which is /p/.
Now you need to combine the two sounds together to get /p/ /o/. The
last thing
we should do is uncover the last sound which is /t/. We need to think
about
what sound this makes and then add all three sounds together to get /p/
/o/ /t/.

3.
“Is there someone who can tell me what other strategy we use when
figuring out
words?” Very good! We use cross-checking when we read. Write the
sentence I
feel sick today on the board. You might have read this sentence as I
fell sick
today if you did not know the word feel. But wait! That does not make
sense so as
good readers we go back and re-read our sentence to make sure it makes
sense.
When you re-read a sentence to make sure it makes sense, it is called
cross-checking.

4.
Now we are ready to learn how to read fluently. I’m going to read a
sentence
and I want you to listen carefully to how it sounds. I will write
“James makes
a lake in the tub” on the board. I will then read it as J-a-a-a-m-m-e-sm-a-a-k-k-e-sa-al-a-a-k-ei-i-nt-h-e-et-u-u-b. Next, I will read James makes a lake in the tub. Which
one of
those sounds better? That’s right, the second time sounded much better
because
I read it faster and it made it easier to understand what the sentence
meant.

5.
Since you know why it is important to read faster and fluently, we are
going to
practice this skill. I am going to pass out a copy of James and the
Good Day to
each student. Now I want you to look at the sheets of paper on your
desk. These
are fluency checklists that check for remembering words, reading
faster,
reading smoother, and reading with more expression.

6.
“I am going to assign each of you with a partner and I want you to read
your
story to each other three times each. On the second and third that your
partner
reads the story, the student not reading is going to mark on the boxes
to show
which areas their partner has improved in their reading.” Then they
will switch
and do the same thing for the other student.

7.
“What do you think happens the more we read a story? That’s correct!
Usually
you are able to read faster the more times you read a story. Let’s find
out if
this is true.” You are going to read the story again three times to
your
partner and record how many words you are able to read in one minute.
The
partner who is not reading will record the one who is reading on the
speed
record sheet.

8.
To assess the children, I will do a one minute read with each child
individually. I will have the student read James and the Good Day three
times
and record their results to see if they increase the number of words
they read
per minute. This, along with the fluency check lists, will show me
whether the
children are making progress towards faster and more fluent reading
each time
they read.